One of the best, unexpected offshoots of releasing “bicycle” and the Bike Red Bike video, is that we’ve (virtually) met some really cool people. Today it was Kent Peterson, author of the aptly named, and widely followed, Kent’s Bike Blog. Kent’s bio tells how he and his family members re-ordered their lives more than 25 years ago – part of which included getting rid or their cars. Kent says that living within limits or a structure, like writing in a form like a sonnet or haiku, can be liberating. Think about this: his 18.5 mile bike commute to work in Seattle takes considerably more time than it would in a car, yet he chose to go car-less, because “what it comes down to is, I value time more than money.” Gives you a completely different take on the rhythm, tempo and meaning of time. Thanks Kent!

It’s been fun to see who finds “Big Red Bicycle.” This morning we woke to see that Osprey Packs included us and our xmas video in their bike blog, calling it a “new caroling classic”! In a word – Osprey is just plain cool. They began in 1974 when founder, Mike Pfotenhauer, started constructing custom-fitted packs at his home for backpackers who found him by word of mouth. His packs became the stuff of legend. So legendary that the company now has the “All Mighty Guarantee” – which means that the company will repair any damage or defect in its product – whether it was purchased in 1974 or yesterday. We hope that guarantee now extends to “bicycle.” Thanks for listening Osprey!

“Explore, Enjoy, and Protect the Planet.” That’s the motto of The Sierra Club. It’s also part of a Sierra Daily article that called “Big Red Bicycle” an “ode to […] joy of riding your bike.” (Smile).

Author Paul Rauber was kind to include us in his end-of-year holiday message which he said more artfully than this: though the work we all do is important, it’s incomplete if we forget to have some fun along the way and find the time to honor the second word of the Sierra motto: “enjoy.”

Paul called Big Red Bike a “holiday treat.” The real treat was finding his story ‘under the tree.’

We haven’t met. We haven’t talked. We haven’t ridden together. And yet, it feels like we are true friends with the good people at Curitiba Cycle Chic. They wrote about “bicycle” this summer – and then again yesterday wrote about “Big Red Bicycle Christmas.” On top of that they created this great winter Big Red Bicycle graphic to boot!

Here is Google’s machine-generated poetic translation of what CCC wrote in even nicer Portuguese:

“Our talented and dear friends of Nora and One Left banda, make us enter the “Spirit of Christmas” with a beautiful song “Big Red Bicycle Christmas”.Check out the video simple, full of beautiful images, plus the music that makes us rescue the “pure and true Christmas spirit.” This song is part of the band’s CD, called “Bicycle”. Listen and give your ears, this beautiful “Christmas present”!-

Lovely in any language. Thanks and a wonderful holiday to our Curitiba friends!

We got a really nice write up in Winnipeg Cycle Chick yesterday w/ a link to Big Red Bicycle! If you haven’t been there – and you’re into biking, or style or just a different perspective – then you need to. While you’re at it check out the site for her design shop, Tétro… sleek. (Thanks Andrea – apparently flattery works both ways ;-).

The Ottawa Bike Guy’s news beat includes bikes, architecture, urban treasure and just about anything else that in the life of Ottawa and beyond. Though, as he noted in his recent blog post about bicycle, he previously hadn’t done many, if any, movie, book or music reviews. But we’re happy that some rules are made to be broken, because we love his write up of the CD in Ottawa Cycle Chic. Can’t believe that we were mentioned in the same piece with legends, Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer and Steve Forbert. We’re especially happy that he highlighted the great work of all the musicians on the record, which he says resulted in “14 wonderful pop songs that blend and flow as well as the instruments of the multi-talented band members.” Our producer, Riley McMahon, and cellist extraordinaire, Trevor Exter, got special call-outs. You can read the whole thing here and here.

Thanks to Mike at BikeBlogNYC – for reviewing Bicycle today. The site is one of the leading bike blogs around – telling the ongoing story of bike culture in NY and the world. We’re proud he’s added Bicycle to the cultural mix, calling it the “soundtrack” for the growing “worldwide cycle chicdom” – and the “perfect accoutrement to a leisurely bike ride in your hood or around the globe.”